There isn’t a definitive answer to the question, “which company is the cheapest?” Some companies are cheaper than others, plain and simple, but individual details of your driving profile can affect which companies offer you the cheapest rates. For example, while Liberty Mutual wasn’t the cheapest for a driver with a clean record, it was the cheapest for a driver following a DUI. The best way to find cheap car insurance is to compare as many companies as possible using your driving profile.
You might wonder how auto insurance quotes are calculated. It's important to understand the primary goal of an insurance company is to effectively predict risk and assign premiums based on the risk a particular driver may pose. Car insurance companies assess your entire driving profile to estimate this risk, including factors such as location, demographics, insurance history, driving record, and vehicle.
Progressive offers several unusual endorsements, including GAP, pet medical, and custom parts coverage. If you have a lease or loan on your vehicle, drive a custom car, or frequently travel with your pet, it’s definitely worth getting a quote from Progressive. In addition to these options is a common mainstay we’ve seen with our other top picks: Accident Forgiveness.
Allstate is your best bet if you’re interested in high liability coverage limits. You can purchase up to $500,000 in bodily injury coverage per person and per accident and up to $1 million in property damage liability coverage. In addition, Allstate has 10 optional endorsements you can add to customize your policy. It offers all the standard options like rental reimbursement and roadside assistance, as well as more unique options, like custom parts coverage. Ridesharing coverage is also available for Uber and Lyft drivers.
At its core, car insurance is a bet. You pay your premium, betting that if something happens to your car, you’ll get that money back to pay for repairs, medical bills, and other costs. The car insurance company takes your premium, betting that if you do have an issue with your car, the cost of paying for it will be less than the premiums they’ve collected from you and other policyholders over the years. Insurance companies do lose money on occasion. For example, when Hurricane Harvey hit Houston, as many as 500,000 total loss car insurance claims were filed in response to the damage. Those claims cost the insurance industry billions of dollars – money that could have otherwise been profits.
Progressive—the third biggest insurance company in the country—was established in 1937. The company offers the ability to purchase auto insurance directly, online or by phone. Alternatively, customers can sign up through independent insurance agents. The company employs over 33,000 people and has over 400 offices. Progressive is a publicly traded company.
We’ve developed four lists comprised of the cheapest cars or trucks to insure, to fit the needs of car shoppers in the market for a crossover or SUV, a minivan or sedan, a hybrid or all-electric vehicle, a vehicle for you or a teen. The lists were created based on Mercury’s price for full coverage - liability, comprehensive and collision. Other factors, such as a driver’s experience and accident history, can push the rate up or down, but were not included in any of the rate calculations. Each list begins with the cheapest vehicle to insure.
You can sometimes get auto insurance quotes on lead generation sites, but expect them to be far less reliable than quotes from comparison sites. Using lead generation sites most likely means that you’ll end up wandering from one auto insurance website to another in pursuit of the best rate, which rather defeats the purpose of using a quote-generating site at all.
Established in 1931, Allstate is the second largest publicly traded property and casualty insurance company in America. Similar to State Farm, Allstate has a roster of local agents ready to serve your needs. The company currently employs over 79,000 people. Esurance, a subsidiary of Allstate, operates in the same space. According to Allstate, the Esurance brand is targeted towards self-directed and brand-sensitive customers while Allstate is geared for customers who enjoy local and personal service.
Results: Once I submitted my information, the site produced one quote, along with six links to other insurance companies. “View my quote” buttons next to each quote took me to the beginning of the insurance website’s own quoting tool, making it clear that these were strictly hypothetical rates. Everquote provided a blurb of marketing text about two of the companies and no helpful information whatsoever to guide my decision.
Like a DUI, a reckless driving citation can raise your car insurance rates. If you’ve received a reckless driving citation, your best bets for cheap car insurance are Nationwide and Liberty Mutual, despite the latter being one of the more expensive insurance options if you don’t have a violation. This shows the importance of comparing car insurance rates carefully — your driving profile will be handled differently by every company.
The hardest part is finding out which auto insurance company will give you the most value for your money while providing the reliable coverage you need as a driver. You’ll never know if you’re getting cheap car insurance unless you compare it with other major insurance companies. To avoid overpaying for your current coverage, start comparing quotes today at Compare.com.
If you have a clean driving record — no at-fault accidents, speeding tickets, DUIs, or other recent citations — you'll probably pay less for car insurance. Conversely, a bad driving record will cause your rates to skyrocket: car insurance premiums typically increase by 29% after a DUI, 33% after an at-fault accident, and 15% after a speeding ticket in Virginia. The post-citation penalties assessed by car insurance companies after speeding tickets and at-fault accidents in Virginia align with nationwide averages, but drivers receive lower-than-average rate hikes after DUI violations. If you have a clean driving record, be sure to check for good-driving discounts from your insurer.
The Zebra didn’t allow me to customize coverage preferences, forcing me to choose one of four pre-assembled packages. It also didn’t list which companies allowed which discounts, making their earlier list of pre-qualified discounts less useful. On the right side of the page, the site provided an “Insurability Score” listing the factors that insurance companies use to set rates and grading the information I’d provided during the quoting process, which could help drivers looking to improve their rates in the future.
Young drivers — aged between 16 and 25 — pay very high car insurance rates, with those aged 16-19 paying the most expensive premiums of all. Because of the risk presented by inexperienced drivers, teen drivers pay more than three times the national average for car insurance. In Tennessee, teen drivers pay insurance rates in line with the national average: $4,741 per year.
If you’ve had tickets, accidents, a DUI, or require an SR-22, Freeway Insurance can help. We offer affordable car insurance for every type of driver; whether young or old, good driving record or bad driving record – we can even help drivers who have been turned down by other insurance companies or have had a lapse in insurance coverage. The advice of our insurance specialists will help you find the best high-risk auto insurance rates based on your specific situation.
The car your drive makes a big difference in your insurance rate. Vehicles built for performance, with high MSRP (manufacturer's suggested retail price), and foreign-built models are often costlier to insure. Vehicles that don't cost as much to repair or aren't built for faster driving — such as vans and sedans — are correspondingly cheaper to insure.
The biggest benefit to captive agents is that many aren’t primarily motivated by commission. That means they have less of a reason to “sell you” and more of a reason to spend quality time educating you. That being the case, going with a captive agent makes sense if you’re already committed to a particular company. These agents will know their company’s policies and coverages from top to bottom.

Insurance terms, definitions and explanations are intended for informational purposes only and do not in any way replace or modify the definitions and information contained in individual insurance contracts, policies or declaration pages, which control coverage determinations. Such terms may vary by state, and exclusions may apply. Discounts may not be applied to all policy coverages.